When Worlds Collide
by norishman7769
Summary: The classical anime adventure when friends gain powers and fight evil for the sake of the world. But there's a twist... Every and all likeness to people and places are real - and that semi-fictional world is about to be turned upside-down when the world of anime collides with ours... The result? Only one thing's for sure: it's the biggest crossover project ever attempted! Enjoy!


Prologue - _When Worlds Collide!_

It was still early that Friday night. The still-warm autumn air was settling down for nightfall, and the six of us were sitting atop the hill at Beverly Park – gazing at the star-speckled sky, and talking about the inevitable end of summer. For us, school would start Tuesday, and it would just be another school year – our junior year.

_Well_, _would've been…_

The truth is that our summer vacation wasn't the only thing about to end. Rather, our… _no_… the WORLD'S entire perception of reality was subject to change_._ But that would come in time…

As for the six of us – it was _this _day that marked the beginning of our _journey_… It was _this _day that we gained the _strength_ to fight for our _survival_… It was _this_ day when a parallel world – one we thought only possible in _fiction_ – collided with _ours_…

* * *

A gentle breeze drifts through the park, making ripples on a small pond not far off from the hill's base. The leaves of the trees rustle softly in the wind, and a flock of birds caw and take off into the sky. Six boys lounge on the hilltop in various positions, silently watching the sky and reveling in the warm September night. The clock strikes seven o'clock, and proceeds a wave of anxiety. One of the boys finally breaks the silence, acknowledging their predicament...

"Man," he laments. "I can't believe summer's almost over..."

The statement meets groans and complaints from the rest of the group. Josh, the speaker, flops against the hillside and grumbles half to himself. "This sucks..." He places his worn, red hat over his face and sighs.

One of the other boys, a few feet lower on the hill, bolts upright, grabbing his head in sudden realization. "Aw, shit, Josh - don't remind me!" he wails. "I fucking HATE school! I wish I could just burn it to the ground!" He snaps his finger and makes a pretend explosion with his hands. "Kaboom: no more child slavery!"

While this elicits chuckles from most of the group, the boy next to him groans and pushes himself up from the ground into a sitting position with his legs in front of him. "We get it, Jory," he says, pushing his glasses up and rolling his eyes. "You hate school with a burning passion..." He wraps his arms around his legs and adds, "I'm not too thrilled about it myself, but all good things have to end eventually..."

A fourth boy, laying perpendicular to the others above the previous two speakers, lazily opens one of his eyes. "Ben's got a point, you know," he notes coolly, almost lecture-like. "Nothing left to do now but enjoy it while it lasts." ("Byron always agrees with _you_," Jory whines at Ben, who only smirks and sticks his tongue out.)

"Yeah, the whole _three days_ we have left!" snarks the fifth boy, who also sits up and is higher up on the hill. The last boy, laying next to the fifth, nudges his elbow.

"Oi, quit yer whinin', Drew mah boi," he slurs in a fake British accent. "It's not like it's gonna change anythin'..."

Drew shrugs but soon stiffens when he hears a buzzing noise. He digs his cell phone from his pocket and his eyes skim over the screen. "Well, time for me to go," he yawns, standing up and stretching. "Mom'll freak if I'm not back by seven-thirty like she said. God, she's making me get up early already..."

"Need a ride, buddy?" Charlie chimes in a fun-filled falsetto.

"Thanks, bro."

As Charlie gets up, the other group members each turn to say their farewells. The two boys head for the wooden stairs built into the hill. Suddenly, several loud explosions sound in the distance, sending the six back to the ground after Josh barks the order. They cling to the earth in desperate fear and cover their heads as the shock-waves subside, just as suddenly as they had started. A large draft of smoke rises from the nearby woods. The only sound left after the explosions is an unsettled flock of birds squawking in panic and taking off. Slowly but surely, the six rise and stare at the haze in the slowly setting sun.

"What was _that_?" Ben wonders in shock.

Josh is momentarily dumbfounded, but instantly starts reviewing ideas in his mind. "It sounded like a mortar strike..."

"I don't know," Drew says anxiously, trying to change the subject. "But it sounds like we should probably take our leave..."

_(Can anyone hear me?)_

A voice like a whisper speaks to the boys; it is quiet, and only a few seem to hear it.

"Did you guys hear that?" Byron demanded.

"I didn't hear anything," Drew frowned.

"I think I did," Jory said uncertainly. "It was a girl, right?"

"Yeah, and—"

_(Can you hear me? The forest... I'm in the forest! Help...)_

Byron, Jory, and Ben freeze; the voice now beckoning them to the source of the dark haze filling the sky. The others seem unfazed.

Charlie, oblivious to the voice, tips lazily on his feet and looks back at the others. "Okay, now what...?"

Without warning, Jory bolts down the hill, heading for the edge of the forest.

"Jory!" Byron shouts, reaching out a hand too late to stop him. "What are you—dammit!" He takes off after Jory, with Josh following close behind. Drew, Charlie, and Ben are left wondering what exactly just happened, and awkward silence quickly ensues.

"...Wanna just leave?" Drew finally asks Charlie, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder.

"Yep," he answers, staring at the forest.

"...Any chance we actually will?"

"Nope."

Drew sighs, and the two slowly trudge after their wayward friends. Ben, left alone at the top of the hill, wavers. "I have a seriously bad feeling about this..." he murmurs, before giving in and rushing to catch up with the others.

* * *

The trees pass by quickly as the three boys wind their way through the forest. The sounds of heavy breathing and rustling foliage couple with scenes of passing shadows and flashes of clothing that sharply contrast the wooded surroundings. Moments later, and well into the forest, Byron finally catches up to Jory, who tangled himself in some brush and is cursing up a storm. After shaking his head in disappointment, Byron helps untangle him and brushes him off.

"Thanks, man," Jory sighs, relieved. He brushes the leftover debris from his pants. "I really owe you one—"

Whatever Jory was about to say next is quickly and effectively forgotten as Byron draws his arm back and slugs him across the jaw, knocking him flat on the ground.

"Don't you _dare_ run off like that again!" Byron snaps, pointing an accusatory finger at Jory. "What if this is some sort of trap, or becomes a restricted, police-investigated area because of those _explosions_? Besides that we don't even _know _what happened! It's just plain _stupid _to rush recklessly into something _completely_ unknown—and furthermore, _alone_? Do you have a _death wish_?!"

"I didn't think—"

"_Exactly, you absolutely didn't!"_

Jory gets up. "Okay, jeez, _Mom_..." he says disdainfully as he begins to rub his jaw. "...Ow...I forgot you threw a mean punch... Anyway, are you coming with me or not?"

At that moment, Josh jogs in from some nearby shrubbery, having followed the two through the forest. He squats with his hands on his knees, panting heavily. "...How the _hell_..." he gasps. "...Did you two get so far so _quickly_? This is _not_ easy terrain..." He stands back up, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. "...Anyway, are we gonna wait for the others, or...?"

"I would have _liked_ to," Byron says pointedly, shooting a glare at Jory, who winces in response. "But _genius_ here took too many turns in the wrong direction!" He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "We'd be better off just following the smoke and hoping to bump into them."

"Well, ex-_cuuuse me_, princess," Jory mutters mutinously.

"Why don't we just call them?" Josh points out. "It would be easier, and they can't be too far away."

"True," Byron allows. "But the thing is that we don't want to call attention to ourselves." Behind Byron's back, Jory starts mimicking him mockingly. Josh couldn't help but smile, holding back his laughter. "If there's anyone or anything dangerous lurking around, we'd just be making ourselves _and_ our friends easy targets. By now, the others have probably done the _smart _thing and hugged the edge of the forest—" Byron whips around after reading Josh's face, glaring at Jory again, who instantly stops and innocently acts like he wasn't doing anything. "...They're probably well on their way to the site. We might be putting them at risk."

Josh ponders this for a moment, then shrugs. "I guess so."

Josh surveys the area, and notices a clearing above them. Looking at the sky, then back at the looming trees, he finally points straight ahead. "That way!" he declares, and the three were off again.

* * *

Indeed, Ben, Drew, and Charlie had wisely kept to the side of the forest to follow the smoke. Now, they hike in single file, Drew leading the pack through the thick brush followed by Charlie, then Ben, each taking extreme care not to make too much noise. Most of the smoke has dissipated by now, and they follow a thin trail of it lazily floating through the sky.

"I hope the others are doing all right," Ben muses, stepping over an old fallen log.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Drew answers, waving Ben's worries aside. "Jory may be a little out there, but I'm positive that Byron and Josh'll have reined him in by now." Ben "hmm"s in assent. Drew continues. "What I'm worried about is that Byron _and_ Jory both said they heard a voice, and _I know_ I didn't..."

Ben slows to a halt, bridging his fingertips in front of his face with an unsure expression. "I think I heard it, too," he confesses.

This makes Drew stop and turn around (making him let go of the branch he'd been pushing out-of-the-way, which whips back and whacks Charlie across the face). "Really?" he says, puzzled. "What about you, Charlie?"

Charlie gets up quickly and shakes his head, partly to answer the question, and partly to do something about the stinging in his cheeks. "Nope, nothing."

Drew throws his hands in the air. "Well, you all must be crazy. I swear, if I start hearing voices, I'll eat a sock. How about that?"

At long last, the three stumble across a clearing...only to realize that they aren't alone.

"Look!" Charlie whispers, pointing.

The three scurry to hide behind whatever they can—a bush, a rock, a fallen tree—and carefully peek at the scene before them:

Three men line themselves in military fashion, with another man close by. The men are all wearing dark clothes with their faces covered, they even carry weapons. A fifth figure is on the ground in the center of it all—a girl, also wearing a military-style uniform, bound and gagged, her once elaborately styled red-brown hair spread and tangled on the ground.

Ben pinches the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut, and looks away dramatically. "Please don't tell me this is what I think it is..."

Charlie giggles in falsetto, then abruptly lowers his voice. "Haha! Rape."

The soldier standing apart from the others, whom the boys are able to name as the commanding officer, barks some orders and the other soldiers stand at ease in formation. The Commander then stalks over to the girl.

"Oh, quit your struggling," he snaps, kicking the girl's side. The girl makes a muffled, pained sound and curls into a ball, ceasing her struggling. The three boys wince.

"_Finally_," the Commander snarls. "Damn brat..." He turns and shouts over his shoulder. "You almost done with the hack in there?"

A yard or two from the men sits a pod of some sort with a door-like hole in it, and scorch marks and craters in the ground around it. Another masked man comes into view from inside the pod. "We're making progress," the soldier reports, wringing his hands. "But this tech is complicated... Little girl's set up an elaborate defense system. I estimate it'll take at least another half-hour to break through."

"Well, can't you go any faster?" the Commander demands impatiently. "This girl could expose our _entire organization's_ goals... If we take too long, and people start showing up, things are going to have to get ugly..." He kicks the girl in the side again. "Little traitor...!"

"Roger that, sir."

"Not as ugly as your sorry ass..." Drew mutters, earning a chuckle from Charlie. Meanwhile, the soldier disappeared back into the pod.

"Stop joking around!" Ben hisses. "This is serious! What if they hear us?"

"Don't get your skirt in a knot," Drew scowls. "Or do _you_ want them to hear us?" Pointing, he quickly changes the subject. "Look! There's the source of the explosions. Josh was right about it being military weapons."

Ben and Charlie follow Drew's finger to several RPG stands set up around the clearing—all of them unloaded.

"You think they're US military?" Ben queries.

Charlie looks over the men once more, scratching his chin. He then notes in a silly voice, "Hmm... Dressed in black, hiding their identities, a possible rape victim, and all the while lurking around in a forest in the middle of a highly populated area?" He switches back to a falsetto again. "Yep! Sounds like US soldiers to me!"

Ben face-palms. "Point taken..."

Suddenly, the girl looks directly at the boys' hiding spots.

"Crap," Drew mutters, crouching lower behind his bush. "Looks like she heard us."

_(Is someone there? Please, help me!)_

Ben pales. "D-did you guys hear _that_?"

Drew and Charlie stare in astonishment. "Well, whaddya know," Drew grins, amused.

"Looks like you're eating a sock, Drew," Charlie says with a shit-eating smile. "You want mine, or are you set with yours?" Drew has to cover his mouth to muffle his laughter.

"Please don't hear us, please don't hear us, please don't hear us..." Ben murmurs, his fingers crossed.

No response from the soldiers.

Ben sighs with relief.

"_WHEN YOU WALK AWAY, YOU DON'T HEAR ME SAY—"_

The boys all freeze.

"—_PLEEEEASE, OH BABY, DON'T GO—"_

"Quick! Turn it off!" Drew hisses, while Ben fumbles with his phone in a panic. "I'm trying!"

"Well, shit," Charlie deadpans.

"—_SIMPLE AND CLEAN IS THE WAY THAT YOU'RE MAKING ME FEE—"_

The song dies abruptly as Ben finally pushes the right button, but it's too late... "Did you hear that?" one of the soldiers demanded, stepping out of line.

"Over there!" his comrade shouts, pointing straight at the boys' location. "We have company!"

"Th-this can't be happening..." Ben chokes, the soldiers advancing on them. They raise their weapons.

"_Shit," _Drew swears, already starting to move. "Run!"

The boys stumble and take off, but the soldiers quickly open fire. Thinking fast, Charlie tackles Drew and Ben to the ground and the bullets pass mercifully overhead. New plan: the boys try crawling into the trees to lose the soldiers, but that goes awry before they can even start. The other soldier has circled around and now stands in front of the three boys, a loaded firearm pointed directly at their faces...

* * *

"Huh," Jory frowned, pocketing his phone. "No answer."

He, Byron, and Josh are still trekking through the thick woods, searching for the girl and their wayward friends.

Byron pushes aside a branch, still miffed. "I _still_ don't think that was a good idea..."

"Come on, Byron," Josh chimes in, stepping over a log. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Byron only gives them a withering glare before continuing on.

The sun is setting, and the tangled trees and underbrush become increasingly difficult to traverse. When they're about to stop for a break to give their legs a well-deserved rest, a burst of noise rings out from nearby, and the three immediately take cover.

"Well, _that_ was fast," Jory yells sarcastically.

The noises quickly subside and the boys regain their composure.

Josh looks out from behind a tree. "Those were gunshots, _definitely_ gunshots," he says grimly.

Byron carefully circles his own tree and squints in the direction the noise came from. "Sounds like we found the site," he notes. "We should tread lightly and get in closer to—" He stops himself short, contemplating intensely. "...No..." He points to Josh. "Josh, you be our scout. You have better eyesight than me and Jory, and it's better that one of us go rather than all three. How long do you think it would take you to get close enough to see?"

Josh swiftly calculates in his mind, then speaks. "Judging from the gunshots, two minutes, give or take."

Byron does his own quick calculations, then lays out a game plan. "All right, you have seven minutes: two to get over there, three to gather Intel, then two to get back. We can't waste _any _time since our friends might be in danger. If you aren't back within another minute of the given seven, we're deeming you MIA. Got it?"

Josh salutes. "Yes, sir."

"We're counting on you, Josh," Byron smiles, determination written on his face.

Jory gives a taunting smile. "Don't do anything too reckless, soldier."

"Like _you're _one to talk," Josh scoffs before disappearing into the trees, leaving Byron and Jory to hunker down and wait...

* * *

To further avoid detection, Josh takes what he deems the long way around to the site. Hearing something, he dashes behind a tree and slowly peeks around.

_Hm, quicker than expected,_ Josh notes mentally.

He finds himself at a clearing in the woods. He sees Charlie, Drew, and Ben almost instantly, as they're held at gunpoint with their arms in the air by four soldiers. _Not good._ Near them are a strange-looking machine and a girl bound and on the ground.

Josh looks for a way to get closer; luckily there is a fallen tree farther back from where he stands, cracked in two, and stretching around the clearing toward the soldiers. Josh gingerly moves back and crawls behind it, then army-crawls all the way around it until he's within earshot of the soldiers. He goes completely unnoticed.

"Search them," Josh hears a gruff voice say, and he immediately pins him as the Commanding Officer. "Take anything that might aid in an escape...then tie them up. We'll figure out what to do with them when we're done here."

Drew, Ben, and Charlie are silent as the soldiers do just that.

"So, girly," the Commander drawls, and Josh hears footsteps. "You called for help, eh? You witch!" There is a thump followed by a muffled cry, and Josh cringes. _He must have kicked that girl..._

"What are you gonna do _now_, huh?" the Commander continues tauntingly. "These kids risked their _lives _for you, and now we have to _kill_ them because they've seen too much! Stupid girl!"

The Commander laughs darkly while the girl sobs and hiccups.

_(I'm sorry... I didn't mean for any of this...)_

Josh hears the message this time. The three hostages look grim, obviously having heard it as well.

_So the girl is here,_ Josh recaps in his mind. _And our friends are in danger...great._ He checks his watch. _About two minutes left... Better get going._

He creeps away quietly as the man continues...

* * *

Byron and Jory wait patiently, if a little nervously for Josh's return. In his absence, they have discussed a few general strategies, clearing the ground in front of them to draw a few diagrams. Suddenly, a bush near them rustles, and the two take up defensive positions. Byron glances at his watch, sighs, and relaxes. Just in time, Josh has returned. He clambers awkwardly out of the bush with Byron's help and sits down next to Byron.

"Good to see you, Josh," Byron grins. "Status report?"

Josh goes right ahead with his report. "There are four enemies—three standard-grade soldiers, identities veiled, and one commanding officer. Each is highly armed with a semi-automatic M-16. The girl you heard earlier is there, too. She's bound up and can apparently speak telepathically. Drew, Charlie, and Ben are all being held captive and are tied up. There's a weird machine there, too."

Byron rubs his chin, thinking hard. "Telepathy, eh? Maybe that's why Drew didn't hear her, the others were farther back than we were - they must have been out of range. But then, telepathy...? How the hell...?" He shakes the last thought from his mind. "Anyway, sounds like a challenge... What do we have to work with?"

"Well, the three of us!" Jory answers enthusiastically, puffing out his chest. Josh pokes him in the stomach and Jory immediately deflates, giving Josh a sour look.

Josh ignores him and digs around in his pocket. "This should help," he offers, producing a large, multi-function pocket knife. "It has a laser pointer, too."

"Awesome!" Byron exclaims, excitedly taking the knife and inspecting it. He quickly focuses back on the situation, though. "That's gonna make things a _lot_ easier... Here."

He hands Josh a stick and instructs him to draw a general layout of the area. While Josh does so, Byron ponders a moment longer, realizes something, and stands up to take off his belt (to Jory and Josh's brief horror). He places it in front of him with the knife. After that, he takes out his cell phone, shows it to the others, and places it there, too. The others follow suit. Another moment later, Josh finishes his map and hands Byron the stick. They switch places and Byron starts drawing figures in the dirt.

"It isn't much," he mutters. "But we _might_ just be able to..."

He draws several lines and arrows on the map, numbering them. As he works, Jory tries to grab his phone for a moment, but Byron whacks his hand with the stick without looking and swiftly resumes.

"_Ow_... Fucker," Jory frowns, cradling his hand.

"You know how Byron is," Josh reminds him, taking great glee in Jory's pain, and leaning back. "Once he gets into _that_ mode, he gets a _little_ possessive."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Just then, Byron sits back and inspects his handiwork, slowly smiling in delight. "Yes... Good... Everything accounted for... Perfect!" He stabs the stick in the middle of the drawing, and his smile grows even more confident.

"Let's give them a show they'll _never_ forget!"

* * *

Several minutes later, at the site: It's getting late, but there's still enough light to see clearly. The soldiers, now dismissed from active duty, sit about lazily while they wait for their comrade to finish. Ben, Drew, and Charlie sit together, tied back-to-back to the trunk of the overturned tree Josh snuck around earlier. The atmosphere is tense, and they look defeated. The girl is lying not too far from the boys, and the Commander is pacing impatiently.

"Are you _almost_ done in there?" the Commander calls angrily.

One of the soldiers appears in the pod's entry hatch. "For the _last time_, NO!" he huffs before quickly remembering his place. "Um, that is, I mean..." he coughs. "Um. Sorry, Commander. I need more time, sir..."

"You'd better be sorry..." the Commander scowls maliciously.

Another moment passes, and a heavy silence falls upon the clearing. Suddenly, a phone starts ringing from somewhere nearby.

"Which one of you did it?" the Commander snaps, rounding on the boys.

They all look at each other, puzzled. "You took our phones away and tied us up," Drew says flatly. "Don't look at us, dip-shit."

The Commander turns his glare to the girl, who shrinks back and shakes her head, her sparkling purple eyes wide and watery.

The Commander growls and points to one of his soldiers. "You there! Go see if it's another kid or something."

The soldier snaps to attention, salutes, and heads toward the noise. While he walks, gun at the ready, the ringtone grows louder...then stops. He glances around, confused, but then the ringing starts again, farther away. He follows the sound, but then it stops and starts again somewhere else. This process repeats several more times until the soldier realizes with dread that he's lost...

_And being led!_

He whips around, ready to shoot, when a belt appears around his throat. The soldier struggles and claws at the belt, dropping his weapon before firing a single shot, only for the belt to tighten even more, and soon everything goes dark...

The soldier crumples, and Josh and Jory let go of the belt. Together, they drag the soldier farther into the forest and tie his feet to his hands using the belt. They tear the man's mask to make a gag. Josh picks up the man's weapon and, after a quick nod of approval to each other, Josh and Jory head their separate ways...

* * *

After the soldier departed, the men continue to lounge about. The captive boys are giving one last desperate look around for an escape...when Drew sees a red light on his chest. It flashes twice and he looks in its direction. Byron is at the opposite end of the clearing, completely hidden from the other soldiers.

"The others must have done that phone call thing," Drew whispers to the others, grinning. "I just saw Byron; he's signalling us. We're not done for yet..."

After momentarily processing what Drew just said, Ben whispers back, "So, what do _we_ do?"

"Why, make as many openings for rescue as possible," Charlie quietly replies in an exuberant southern-belle voice.

"Oh, I'm all over that," Drew smirks, then raises his voice. "Hey, commander stick-up-the-ass, I gotta go to the bathroom—like, now!"

Ben quickly reacts, employing his superb thespian skills. "Aagh, no! No way!" He squirms and exaggerates. "I am _not_ going to sit in his _piss_! Let him go, _please_!"

The Commander considers this briefly, then waves them off. "I'm not falling for your stupid tricks, kid."

"Look, I'm not stupid," Drew says crossly. "You're all heavily armed and highly trained, I'm perfectly aware—just let me use a freakin' tree before I die. Is that too much to ask for?"

Charlie pipes in too. "Yeah, seriously. If we're gonna die here, at least let us have the dignity of being dead and _dry_."

The Commander thinks some more, then groans quietly to himself and motions to one of his soldiers. "You try anything, and he has permission to kill you on the spot," the Commander says sternly, then hocks a loogie to his side. "Got it?"

"Fine, I promise not to do anything funny," Drew grumbles. "Now let me go so I can get this over with..."

The soldier cuts the ropes on Drew's legs so he can get up. The two then move into the forest and out of sight.

Drew and the soldier walk for a bit, Drew watching carefully for the red dot on the ground that shows up every few feet or so. The light finally flashes three times at the base of a tree, signaling Drew to stop. "This'll do," he says, looking the tree up and down.

With that, he heads around the trunk. The soldier tries to follow, but Drew pops his head out from around the trunk. "Uh, a little privacy, please?" he asks, sounding offended. The soldier gives a short huff and turns to stay sentry by the tree. After a moment, a light flashes in his eye and he winces. Then he sees Byron waving from behind a tree a few yards away.

"Hey, you! Get over here!"

The soldier starts off toward Byron, but Drew sneaks out from behind the tree and knocks him upside the head as hard as he can.

_THUNK._

Byron peeks out from behind the tree in time to see the soldier sink to the ground, unconscious. Satisfied, Byron leaves his hiding place. Drew meets him halfway. "Almost thought you guys weren't coming," he confesses.

Byron whips the knife back out and gets to work cutting Drew's bindings. "C'mon, Drew," he says cheerily. "You know we're not the types to leave our friends to die."

"Or to call for help, I see."

"Meh, where would the fun in _that _be?" _Snap._

The ropes fall to the ground and Byron gives a playful smile. Drew rubs his wrists and turns to look at the now-unconscious soldier.

"Yeah, I guess I should expect that by now. Anyway, what are we gonna do with sleeping beauty over there?"

Byron picks up the ropes and pockets them, then walks past Drew and kneels next to the soldier. He motions for Drew to help him, and they both carry the unconscious soldier to a nearby tree with vines. "That should do it," Byron says, and the two drop him.

"So, you got a plan?" Drew asks, stretching his arms.

Byron grins wolfishly. "Strip him. Then we'll tie him up."

"Sounds kinky... But I highly doubt leaving a man half-naked in the woods is going to do anything. Hell-of-a-good-prank though, if I do say so myself."

"Thanks, but don't you worry Drew. All part of the plan. But first we have to get you back to the site."

Byron hands him the rope.

"Retie yourself - just enough to make it convincing is fine."

"Wait, what?" Drew double-takes. "You're sending me back to be a hostage?!"

Byron answer nonchalantly. "Well, yeah. You promised _you_ wouldn't do anything funny, remember?"

Drew's eyes gleam. "I _did_ say that, didn't I...?"

* * *

A few more minutes pass. Back at the site, the Commander scowls. Two of his men have not returned for some time now, and it's just dark enough that it's getting difficult to see things in detail...and Charlie has started his fourth round of singing.

Charlie takes a deep breath and belts out, "HOW MANY OREOS DOES IT TAKE TO KILL A MONKEY WITH _**DIABETES~?!**_"

"Do you ever _shut up_?!" the Commander finally snaps.

Charlie takes another deep breath, then says plainly, "No. HOW MANY OREOS DOES IT TAKE..." And he continues singing.

Just when the Commander is about to get up and wring the boy's neck himself, Drew stumbles out into the clearing, followed by the guard from before with his gun. Charlie's warbling immediately stops.

"Ah, so you return," the Commander notes, smirking. "Good to see you again, piss-boy."

Drew sits down by Ben and Charlie, who both look at him strangely. The masked soldier ties Drew's legs back together and sits on a log near the other soldier.

"Oh, my, what's _this_?"

Jory appears from a bush on the other side of the clearing (to Ben's utter despair. "We're _doomed_," he groans).

"I am but a lost boy wandering in the forest, minding my own business," he continues excessively enthusiastically. "And I find _three_ masked men and a strange-looking _machine_! Not to mention what looks like a possible rape victim!" The girl shakes her head in disbelief. Jory scratches his chin. "_Hmmmmmm_, maybe I should call the _police_!"

Jory makes a big show of pulling his phone out and dialing in numbers one by one. The two soldiers quickly swing their weapons to face him. The Commander starts to pull out a pistol, but stiffens as he feels a gun's barrel pressed against his back.

"_Freeze, motherfucker!_" Josh shouts gleefully. Then, reverting to a hard, military voice, "Drop your weapon!"

One of the soldiers turns to point his weapon at Josh, but stops when _his ally_ levels his own gun at the soldier's side. "Drop your weapon. Now."

The hostage soldier complies, but the Commander draws his pistol and lashes around to shoot Josh—but by this point, Drew has cut himself and the other two boys free with the pocket knife—and Charlie dives, tackling the Commander to the ground, causing his shot to fire harmlessly into the air. Drew snatches up the second soldier's gun and Josh orders Charlie and the Commander to stop fighting. The Commander obeys, and Charlie scrambles to take his weapon. Drew moves to stand by the machine as the last soldier curiously looks out. "What the heck is going on out here—"

He blanches when Drew puts his gun's barrel to the soldier's face. "Come on out, now," he said mock-coaxingly. "Don't be shy..."

The man reluctantly exits and moves to where the other soldiers are being held at gunpoint. Meanwhile, the rogue soldier takes his mask off, revealing Byron, and directs Ben to untie the girl. Charlie then takes Byron's place guarding the soldiers.

After untying the girl, Ben reaches out a hand to help her up. "Are you okay...?" he asks, concerned, but the girl only stares at the ground.

Surveying the scene, Byron smiles and lowers his weapons. Taking a deep breath, he says, "A job well done, team."

The boys all smile and cheer...but the Commander chuckles.

"I have to hand it to you kids," he says smugly as he stands up, clapping mockingly. "You work better than a standard special ops team... But, do you _really_ think this is over? Do you _really_ think you've _won_?"

Drew levels his gun at the Commander. "Well, yeah," he answers condescendingly. "We've taken you prisoner and we rescued the girl. Looks like a win to me. Now sit down before I _mow_ you down."

The Commander's laughing grows hysteric. Drew and the others exchange looks, but then the laughing suddenly stops. The Commander looks up, his crazed eyes turning golden.

"Looks can be DECEIVING!"

The Commander's body bulges underneath his uniform, growing bigger and bulkier, as dark hair sprouts from every inch of his skin. His face becomes slimmer, and a furry snout grows with two jagged rows of teeth.

The boys back off, their weapons bearing down on the still-growing monster—unable to pull the triggers in strident disbelief.

The Commander's hands and feet become clawed, paw-like distortions of their original forms, and his legs become bowed like a four-legged animal's, yet he remains standing upright. The uniform explodes off of his body as he looses a blood-curdling howl. Right before their eyes, the Commander has transformed into a giant, wolf-man hybrid.

The remaining soldiers flee in fear, and the Commander barks out a vicious laugh. "You kids don't have any idea what you've gotten yourselves into!" he growls, licking his snout. "You would be smart to do what my men have just done, but I doubt you're cowards like them!"

He suddenly slashes forward. Charlie and Drew's guns split in two, and the cleaving attack from the commander flings them back with bloody gashes across their chests. They stay still as their wounds bleed on the forest floor.

The remaining boys scatter frantically. Josh does a dodge roll, stops at a kneeling position, and quickly opens fire. But the Commander is too fast. In a split second, he shrinks to the size of an actual wolf, nimbly dodging the shots made at him. When Josh redirects and fires once more, the wolf-man maneuvers around the barrage and leaps at Josh, sinking his teeth into his arm. Yelling in pain, Josh drops the gun. The Commander reverts back to his mutant, full-size, crushes the gun with his foot, and picks the bloodied Josh up by the throat.

"It's no _fun_ if my prey fights back!" the Wolf-man says smugly.

Josh spits blood in his eye.

The Commander snarls and slams Josh into the ground, knocking him unconscious as well. After tossing his limp body aside, he turns his attention to Jory, Byron, and Ben... The only ones left standing.

He chuckles darkly. "I can see the fear in your eyes—the utter disbelief! What's wrong? _Wolf got your tongue?!_"

He laughs maniacally and the boys can only stare.

"Still don't believe in nightmares, kiddies? That's too bad... _You're in one!_"

With that, the Commander rushes the three boys. He tears at Ben and with a single slash, sending him barreling across the clearing and into a tree. Jory points his gun and tries to fire—but somethings wrong. He does a double-take when he sees it: the safety is still on! The Wolf-man turns to face him. Jory tries to shoot again, but the Commander simply takes the weapon with a single giant hand and crushes it. With another slash, Jory falls, too. His blood stains the ground where he lies.

Byron takes a step back in shock. "No..." he stammers. "This...this can't be happening... First the girl, then you... This has to be a dream—some sort of sick joke..."

"Oh, I'm real, all right," the Commander gloats, slowly approaching Byron. "How about you feel it for _yourself!_"

The next instant happens in slow-motion for Byron. The Commander lurches again, claws flashing, and Byron raises his arms in a feeble attempt to protect himself. Just then, the girl from before rushes over and throws herself between the Wolf-man and Byron. There's a flash of red. The girl has been hit, her hair flying back and revealing a strange bird-like sigil on her forehead. She is flung into Byron and the two fly back a yard or two, finally hitting the ground and rolling away from each other. The girl soaks in blood from the four long gashes across her chest.

Byron is still conscious. He crawls over to the girl and nudges her, then shakes her. She doesn't respond. The Commander sneers and laughs.

"Oh, I'm sorry, little girl," he coos in mock-sympathy. "You got in the way and I couldn't stop!" He licks his blood-stained claws and howls in delight. Byron trembles, sitting in silent opposition.

_No... No. No!This can't be happening... _he almost screams. _Charlie, Drew, Josh, Ben, Jory... And now, even this girl!_ Tears start streaming down his face. _Why did you save me? Why did you only prolong the inevitable with your life?! I'm going to die! Why didn't you _run_?!_

Suddenly, the girl's hand shoots up and latches Byron's wrist. Byron's conscious careens into a spiral of complex blue, green, and white streamlined tunnels, ending in an area of white light. Both Byron and the girl stand across from each other in this space. A flood of strange images rushes through Byron's mind, and a voice—the girl's—speaks over all of it.

"You have a strong bond with your friends," her voice echoes. Scenes of shrieking souls, and distorted humanoid figures creeping across a large white expanse flash before them. "As do your friends with you and one with another. But you alone seem capable enough to survive..."

"What's going on here?!" Byron exploded, interrupting. "Who are you? _What_ are you? And what the _hell_ just happened to us?!"

As they look at each other, they each separate into several outlined copies of themselves, some right-side-up, some upside-down. The girl seems to select her next words carefully. "What you have just encountered is normal in the world in which I live. People of unbelievable strength are common, and the fight for power and control is omnipresent. But this world of which I speak is expanding at an alarming rate—and soon it will overflow and consume yours." The figures come back together as she finishes.

Byron blanks in astonishment. The girl allows him a moment to consider this before continuing. Scenes of people with a strange bird-like symbol on their foreheads praying and a heavenly platform display themselves.

"Tell me something." It feels less like a request than it does a polite command. "Do you still wish to live in the world you know, now having the knowledge that its destruction will be before your very eyes?"

Byron bites his lip, thinking. "If it's to be inevitably destroyed," he begins apprehensively. "Then there's no use clinging to it and dying with it..."

"I see," the girl notes. "Before we go any further, I must tell you of the choice you now have before you: Should you choose to decline my contract, you and your friends will be subject to a fate similar to what you have experienced thus far. I will save you all only this once—but you will forget everything that has happened and you will be powerless against the forces that will move in this world. Is this what you want?"

"Are you _kidding_ me?"

Byron turns to see Jory standing next to him, whole and unhurt. "Why would we want to be powerless?" he answers incredulously.

"Jory..." Byron says quietly.

Josh and Ben appear on Byron's other side. "For once," Josh sighs reluctantly. "I agree with Jory. If _things_ like that guy are going to be taking over, we might as well just give up now."

Ben steeples his fingers and presses them to his mouth. "This is all true," he says slowly. "But you can't just blindly decide without hearing what this contract entails..."

"Once you have accepted my contract," the girl cuts in. "You will begin a new life as one who does not abide by the laws of the common man. I will grant you the strength to live in this new world—to keep your friends safe from harm—but it will come at a price. By agreeing to my terms, you must grant one wish of mine. To grant this wish, you will be forced to fight powerful foes and your life will be in constant danger and uncertainty. Are you inclined to accept this fate?"

Charlie and Drew appear as well. "Oy, Byron, take the deal," Charlie urges firmly. "Don't let us drag ya down. You got nothing to lose, so why not?"

"Ah, but what do we know?" Drew teases. "We're only figments of your imagination created in your head to represent us! You make the choice alone. But no pressure, dude. Only a matter of life and death for all of us."

Byron looks down at his hands, then clenches them. A large planet like structure appears before them. _Ragnarök? I see... What perfect timing..._ Byron notes mentally. He then looks back up, smiling confidently.

"Well, they've spoken," he says with determination. "For the sake of my friends' lives, as well as my own, I will accept your contract—but on _one_ condition!"

The girl is somewhat taken aback. "...I have already presented you with more power than a normal man could ever acquire, and an entirely new chance at survival... What else could you possibly need?!"

"Your deal only gives _me_ this power, no? I will only accept if my friends can fight alongside me without fear! It would be no different from if I chose to decline or take this deal as it stood; we would stick together - _powerful or not!_"

The girl ponders this for a moment. She isn't swayed just yet. She looks at the five other boys. They all smile and give a nod of approval. Byron tries again.

"You have a wish, right? If not for me, grant them the power to ensure your wish will come true! Either we will fight together or I will die alone!"

The five other boys each smile confidently, then turn and vanish one by one. The girl turns her back as well. Byron reaches out a hand, thinking she is leaving, but she just stands there. Suddenly, she turns her head back and smiles cutely. "I underestimated your bond... But are you _really_ willing to make them share your pain?" Byron stares back intently, planted firmly, and steadfast in his decision.

The girl turns away again. _Maybe it isn't a chosen one—but chosen ones... Or better yet..._

"Very well, your friends may join you. However, you alone must bear the burden of my wish. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes. From now on, I...no, _we_ enter into this contract!" Byron extends his hand. "Grant us the power to _live!_"

A flash of light envelops the space, and Byron is once more staring down the Commander. To his shock, no time has passed since the girl reached out to him, and she lays unconscious in his arms. The Commander slowly moves forward to finish the job.

"Well, kid, it's been fun," he laughs. "But I've got _better_ prey to kill."

Byron stands with a hand over his left eye. He starts laughing quietly, then loudly and maniacally. The Commander pauses, confused.

"Have you lost it?" he says to Byron as his laughter dies down to a mere chuckle. "Did I really knock your head that hard? You're about to _die_—do you really think that's funny?!"

"...Do you _really_ think this is over?" Byron says, his voice eerily calm. "Do you _really_ think that you've _won_?"

The Commander sputters. "Wh-what are you talking about, kid? Don't you see the reality before you? Don't you see that you've _already lost_?!"

Byron chuckles coldly.

"You said it yourself... Looks can be DECEIVING!"

He removes his hand from over his eye, which has changed to encompass a red, bird-like sigil, identical to the one on the girl's forehead. Its "wings" beat as it flies from his eye into the eyes of the Commander.

Byron dramatically swipes his hand to the side, as though he were a king ordering a servant. "Now, I command you," he says sternly. "Go and leave us be! Forget me, this place, my friends, the girl, your purpose here—everything! Find your men, leave this place at once, and never return..."

The Commander's eyes glow with a red tint around their outer rim. Suddenly, he takes human shape once more. Changed back completely, he salutes Byron and smiles manically. "Yes, sir!"

He turns and walks away, and Byron falls to his knees, collapsing from exhaustion. He begins to lose consciousness. The symbol in his eye vanishes and his vision begins to fade as his eyes close. The last thing he sees is the girl walking in front of his view, and then everything goes dark.

To be continued...


End file.
